Filed under: Rugby Union, Rugby World Cup, Internationals, England Rugby, Ireland Rugby, Wales Rugby
All three home nations who played at the weekend won. So why is it that out of the trio, only Irish fans and players are completely happy?Ireland of course beat Australia on Saturday morning, sending not only their own fans into ecstasy but also the host country's supporters, who tend to back the All Blacks first and foremost and then whoever the Wallabies are playing.
Wales came from behind in a gutsy revival to see off Samoa, while England turned in a decent performance for the final 30 minutes against Georgia to post a win which flattered Martin Johnson's men.
And England's fans - and players for that matter - are the least happy out of the three countries. But in the World Cup, it doesn't matter how you get the win, as long as you do post a victory. South Africa have won the whole tournament on this philosophy. Few can say that the Springboks' 2007 campaign was easy on the eye.
James Haskell was most vociferous in his criticism of his team mates and he claimed that the Monday morning meeting after the Georgia game will be lively. What manager Martin Johnson will think of his breaking ranks and accusing his team mates of failing to pull their weight remains to be seen.
But it seems a strange way to talk yourself into the starting line-up - especially as he was only involved against Georgia as a last-minute replacement after Nick Easter was forced to pull out because of a back injury.
Haskell said: "The days of brushing it under the carpet are gone. It has got to that stage, got that serious. It starts with identifying individuals. You only get one chance at a World Cup, so faffing around is not the way forward.
"People have got to start pointing some fingers and saying 'This is not acceptable'. Johnno is not happy, the coaches are not happy - the players need to look at themselves and realise they are not working as hard as they should be.
"People should be excited about this team, excited about our performances, but we are letting ourselves down. We are stuck in a bit of a mire. Look at the good sides - they have that control. Whatever happens, you feel they are going to win. With England at the moment it is, 'This could go either way'."
Where Haskell - perhaps unwisely - hit the nail on the head with regards to his team's shortcomings, the reaction from Wales was a little more measured, if not disappointed that they came so close to a second-straight defeat, which would have put them out of contention for the quarter finals.
Scrum-half Mike Phillips said: "It was great to get the win, but it was frustrating for us. It was frustrating because we didn't quite get the scores we should have had in the first half. I think we showed great quality to come back and win the game.
"We gave them so much respect in our preparation, but we weren't quite clinical and these things make or break a game. We just wanted to get the win, so be it being ugly or whatever - we just had to get the win."
As for Ireland, the tryless win over Australia was their first against Tri-Nations opposition in a World Cup. And it certainly put a dent in the Wallabies' claims to be dark horses for the tournament outright.
And if there is any doubt as to how important a good performance was against their toughest pool opponents, Stephen Ferris revealed that Paul O'Connell, the stoic, hulking great lock, had tears in his eyes before the match.
Ferris said: "Paul started with tears in his eyes, telling us how he will attack the game in the first 10 minutes. You take heart from that.
"[But] we didn't peak against Australia - there's definitely a lot more attacking ability to come from us. This wasn't a one-off performance, we knew this was brewing and we're glad it happened against Australia. We'll be targeting a big win over Russia now."
After watching Ireland against Australia, you wouldn't bet against it. But for England and Wales fans, as far as a World Cup goes, a win is a win. To wish for much more would be foolhardy.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/09/19/rugby-world-cup-james-haskell-mike-phillips-stephen-ferris/
Adrian Mutu Albert Montanes Alessandro Nesta Alex Alexandre Pato
No comments:
Post a Comment